Wind power is a way to use wind to create . This method to create electricity is mostly used in rural areas and it effects the Earth less compared to other ways used to generate electricity.
How It WorksIn order for this method to work you need a wind turbine to capture the wind to make electricity. The wind turbine is turned by the wind current. The wind speed must be 10mi/h to start generating, but for large wind turbines you need about 30mi/h. The wind turbine's blades are design to make the wind spin the blades which slowly turns a gear that turns on the generator. The generator creates electricity which goes through the transformer to stablize the electricity. Then the transformer sends it out to power stations which sends it out to our homes.
Parts of the wind turbine
How Widespread It IsPeople don't use this method as much because of the inefficiency in space. Only about 12 countries in the whole world uses it and the world get about 3.3% of electricity from wind power. In Africa only South Africa uses this method.
How Efficient It IsA single wind turbine produce enough electricity for 500 houses and it can generate about 250 watts to 10 megawatts in a day. The price of an average wind turbine is 1.2 million to 2.6 million dollars. The wind trubine costs is expensive and needs space so you can't use them in urban areas. The energy they create is also not that much so you need a lot of windturbines to create enough for a town. Sometimes you need a generator to turn it before it catches the wind so it's not as efficient even though it is eco friendly.
By: Vincent and Waddy 7B
Introduction
Wind power is a way to use wind to create . This method to create electricity is mostly used in rural areas and it effects the Earth less compared to other ways used to generate electricity.
How It WorksIn order for this method to work you need a wind turbine to capture the wind to make electricity. The wind turbine is turned by the wind current. The wind speed must be 10mi/h to start generating, but for large wind turbines you need about 30mi/h. The wind turbine's blades are design to make the wind spin the blades which slowly turns a gear that turns on the generator. The generator creates electricity which goes through the transformer to stablize the electricity. Then the transformer sends it out to power stations which sends it out to our homes.
How Widespread It IsPeople don't use this method as much because of the inefficiency in space. Only about 12 countries in the whole world uses it and the world get about 3.3% of electricity from wind power. In Africa only South Africa uses this method.
How Efficient It IsA single wind turbine produce enough electricity for 500 houses and it can generate about 250 watts to 10 megawatts in a day. The price of an average wind turbine is 1.2 million to 2.6 million dollars. The wind trubine costs is expensive and needs space so you can't use them in urban areas. The energy they create is also not that much so you need a lot of windturbines to create enough for a town. Sometimes you need a generator to turn it before it catches the wind so it's not as efficient even though it is eco friendly.
Benefits and Disadvatages
Advatages
Disadvantages
Role In Future
Our opinion is that wind power will be less widespread because according to our research the electricity one wind turbine can produce is very little. It is inefficient as well because the wind is something you can't control so there would be times there is no electricity at all and wind turbines make noises that is the same noise as a car driving at 70mi/h which won't satisfy people who live in urban places. Wind turbines are large and need open places too since there can't be any Windbreaks so they need to be in open space areas and we think that countrysides should be left alone and untouched. If it is built incorrectly, it can damage the environment and birds run into them too. And the wind turbine cost is too much for a small town so it wouldn't help out as much, you would need farms. If other methods to produce electricity decrease because of global warming or environmental changes than this way of creating electricity might increase, but unless it's that reason the wind power usage will not increase as much. The energy it uses; the wind will be less available because of the awkward environmental changes. The wind power is not efficient enough to use for big cities but is acceptable for small towns and such.
Bibliography
http://www.windustry.org/how-much-do-wind-turbines-cost
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Wind_power_plants_in_Xinjiang%2C_China.jpg
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http://nuclearfissionary.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/total-cost-electricity-production-per-kwh.jpg
http://www.claverton-energy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/levelized-cost-of-electricity-generation.jpg
http://www.claverton-energy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/wind_costs.png
http://www.need.org/needpdf/infobook_activities/IntInfo/WindI.pdf
http://www.wind-watch.org/faq-output.php
http://www.technologystudent.com/energy1/wind8.htm
http://www.energy-measures.com/wind_turbines/wind_advantages_disadvantages.php